Anchoring device



July 11, 1967 P. R. BROWN 3,330,243

ANCHORING DEVICE Filed Dec. 2, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 11, 1967 p, R BROWN 3,330,243

ANCHORING DEVICE Filed Dec. 2, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,330,243 AN CHORING DEVICE Paul R. Brown, 196 Beachview Lane, Harrington, Ill. 60010 Filed Dec. 2, 1965, Ser. No. 511,157 12 Claims. (Cl. 114-230) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An anchoring device adapted for mounting on the bow portion of a water craft, including an elongated support having one end adapted to be secured adjacent to the bow of the water craft and the other end adapted to be secured to the side thereof. A connector is movably mounted on the support, which connector is adapted for attachment to a holding device, and a line is connected to the connector to move the connector.

This invention relates to an anchoring device and more particularly to an improved construction of a device which allows an operator of a water craft to secure an anchor line to the water craft at the side of the water craft, and then, move the secured anchor line to the bow of the water craft to anchor the water craft at the bow; and, conversely, in releasing the water craft from an anchor line, to move the anchor line from the bow of the boat to the side to facilitate the release of the anchor line.

In the operation of water craft and especially small pleasure craft, it is found that one of the problems encountered in handling a small craft is that it is diflicult for an operator to secure his craft to a holding device, such as, a buoy. Ordinarily, the operator of the craft must either do this task himself while he is attempting to pilot the craft, or he must depend upon an inexperienced seaman to perform this task. In many instances, the inexpen'enced seaman may fall overboard; or if the operator himself attempts the task, he cannot pilot the craft accurately enough to position the craft near a buoy so that he may readily secure the craft to the buoy. It is apparent that it would be particularly desirable to secure a craft to a buoy by securing the buoy at the side of or midships of the craft. Obviously, this would facilitate securing the craft since the operation could be accomplished from the cockpit of the craft; however, it is not particularly desirable to secure the craft midships because the wind or waves would cause the craft to swamp. Therefore, the anchor line must be at the bow of the craft so that the wind and waves will at all times approach the craft from the bow, hence producing a condition of maximum seaworthiness and safety for the craft while anchored or moored. It is a principal object of the instant invention to provide an improved anchoring device which allows an anchor line to be secured to or to be released from the water craft at the side of the craft and the anchor line is held at the bow of the craft while the craft is anchored.

It is also apparent that in the operation of a water craft various size lines are used for anchoring the craft at various locations. In many instances, a cleat may be used to secure the line to the craft, but it is particularly desirable to have a cleat of an appropriate size for a given line. It is, therefore, another object of the herein disclosed invention to provide an improved cleat construction in which a cleat head is adjustable relative to its base to accommodate ropes of various diameters.

It is still another object of the present invention toprovide an improved anchoring device construction which has a connector movably attached to a water craft which connector may be mounted on the side of the craft or "ice move to the bow of the craft and locked into position in the bow.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved anchoring device which may be easily and conveniently installed on a water craft.

It is still another object of the subject invention to provide an improved construction for an anchoring device which provides means for moving a connector from the bow of the water craft to the side so that a water craft may be conveniently released from a buoy or other such device.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide an improved anchoring device which may be economically and easily manufactured.

Other objects and uses of this invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a perusal of the following specification in light of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a water craft having an anchoring device embodying the instant invention mounted thereon showing the anchoring device connected to a buoy:

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the water craft, buoy, and anchoring device shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the water craft in a position with the buoy along side of the craft;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a terminal portion of the anchoring device shown in FIGURES 1, 2, and 3 showing a movable cleat in a mounted position on the water craft;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional elevational view taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a portion of a movable cleat and a cross sectional view of a portion of a bow bracket and shackle;

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 77 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on line 88 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a terminal bracket and a cleat lock operator taken on line 9-9 of FIGURE 8.

Referring now to the drawings and especially to FIG- URE 1, a water craft It) is shown therein with an anchoring device 12 embodying the present invention mounted on the water craft and connected to a conventional can buoy 14.

In this instance, the water craft 10 is a conventional pleasure boat having a hull 16, a deck 18 and a cockpit 20. Although a specific boat is shown herein, it is readily apparent that the anchoring device 12 may be mounted on any water craft whether it be a power boat or sail boat, whether it be large or small, and the anchoring device may be mounted on one side or the other of the craft or two anchoring devices may be mounted on opposite sides of the craft.

The buoy 14 is conventional in its construction in that it includes a ring 22 at its upper end with a conventional line 24 secured to the ring, and a snap ring 26 is secured to the anchoring device.

The anchoring device 12 generally consists of a cleat support 28 mounted on deck 18, a movable cleat 30 mounted on the cleat support, and a cleat lock 32 connected to the cleat support and engageable with the movable cleat to lock the movable cleat adjacent to the bow of the boat.

As may be best seen in FIGURE 5, the cleat support includes a bow bracket 34. The bow bracket in this instance is a unitary cast part having a base 36 with a riser 33 formed integral therewith. An arm 40 is formed integral with the base 36 and cooperates with the riser 38 to define a connector slot 42. The bow bracket is secured to deck 18 by a plurality of conventional screws 44. It may be readily appreciated that the bow bracket may be readily and conveniently mounted adjacent to the bow of the boat simply by securing the screws to the deck.

The arm 40 has a threaded aperture 46 into which is threadedly connected a hollow traverse rod 48 which has one end threadedly mounted in threaded aperture 46. At the other end of the traverse rod 48, a terminal bracket 50 is threadedly connected thereto.

As may be best seen in FIGURE 8, the terminal bracket includes a terminal base 52 with an arm 54 formed integral therewith. The arm 54 has a keyway 56 formed therein which keyway communicates with a threaded aperture 58 in the end of the arm which is connected to traverse rod 48. The terminal bracket includes a resilient mounting post 60 which is mounted in a post aperture 62 in base 52. The mounting post includes a mounting section 64 which is adapted to receive the movable cleat and is spaced a prescribed distance from the arm 54 as will be described hereinafter. The terminal bracket is secured to deck 18 by a plurality of screws 66. It is clear that like the bow bracket, the terminal bracket may be readily secured to the deck. Furthermore, the traverse rod may be easily bent to conform to a given configuration.

The movable cleat or' connector 30 may be best seen in FIGURES 6 and 7. The movable cleat includes a substantially fiat body 68 which has a boss 70 adjacent to its center. The boss 70 includes a threaded aperture 72 which adjustably and threadedly receives a cleat head 74. The cleat head 74 includes a threaded stud 76 which is threadedly mounted in boss 70 and a pair of conventional outwardly extending cleat head arms 78 which are formed integral with the stud. The stud has an elongated aperture 80 in its center and a stop 82 is mounted in the body 68 and in head 74. The stop 82 includes a head 84 which is engageable with the cleat head 74 and a head 86 which is engageable with the body 68.

The stop 82 allows the cleat head 74 to be adjusted relative to the body but prevents withdrawal of the head from the body. As may be best seen in FIGURE 6, the body 68 includes a snap ring aperture 86 adjacent to one end and an ear 88 adjacent to the other end. Adjacent to the ear is a shackle 90 which is connected to the body. The shackle includes a ring 92 which is slideably engageable with the traverse rod,48 and arms 40 and 54 of the bow and terminal brackets, respectively. The shackle includes. a stem 94 which is formed integral with the ring and a bolt 96 which secures the ring to the body 64. A screw 98 in body 68 prevents the bolt from being accidentally removed from the body 68. his apparent that by utilizing the bolt connection between the ring and the body, the body may rotate relative to the ring. The center-to-center distance between ring 92 and snap ring aperture 86 is substantially equal to the center-tocenter distance between the lower portion of arm 54 and post 60 so that the post may be positioned in aperture 86 to hold the connectoradjacent to the terminal bracket.

As was mentioned above, the lock 32 provides a means for locking movable cleat or connector to the cleat support adjacent to the bow of the boat. The lock includes a lock bolt 100 which has a groove 102 in one side and the bolt is slideably mounted in the upper portion of arm 40 as may be best seen in FIGURE 5. A set screw 104 is mounted in arm 40 and positioned in a groove 102 in the lower portion of the bolt to prevent the bolt from rotating relative to the arm. The bolt has a forward end 106 curved in order to conform to the configuration of the arm 40 when the bolt is retracted. The bolt 100 includes a stem 108, and a compression spring 110 is mounted in arm 40 surrounding .the stem 108 and in engagement with bolt 100 to urge con stantly the bolt outward from the arm.

The lock includes a cable 112 which has one end connected to the stem 108 and extends through hollow traverse rod 48 to arm 54. The cable 112 has its other end connected to a lock operator 114 which is mounted in keyway 56 of arm 54. The lock operator includes a base 116 which mates with keyway 56 so that the lock operator may move along the keyway. To provide a convenient means for engaging the lock operator, a groove 118 is formed in the upper surface of the lock operator.

The subject device works in the following manner. In the operation of the subject anchoring device, the movable cleat or connector is carried during normal operation of the boat on the terminal bracket with the post 60 in aperture 86. In order to anchor the boat to buoy 14, the boat is brought along side the buoy so that the operator in cockpit 20 need not climb out onto the bow portion of the deck or even a passenger in the cockpit who is unskilled in seamanship may remain in the cockpit to secure the boat. When the boat comes along side the buoy, the passenger grasps the line 24 by hand or with a hook to raise the line to boat level. The movable cleat or connector is disengaged from resilient post 60 by lifting the body of the connector from the base of the terminal bracket. In this instance, the line 24 has snap ring 26. The snap ring is securedto the body 68 by placing it in aperture 86 as is convention. It is apparent that the line may also be attached to the cleatin aconventional manner.

As may be seen in FIGURE 8, a painter line 120 is stored on the movable cleat. The painter line is secured to ear 88. Once the anchor .liue 24 is secured to the connector, the painter. line 120 is removed from the cleat and movable cleat is allowed to travel along arm 54 onto traverse rod 48. In this'instance, the boat is a power boat and it is possible to-back up the boat so that the movable cleat moves along the traverse rod. It is apparent that it would be possible to move the cleat along the traverse rod with a pole or other device or to allow the 'wind to push the boat away from the buoy. As the cleat moves along the traverse rod, the end of the painter line 120 is secured in the cockpit for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter.

As the movable cleat approaches the bow bracket, the operator or an assistant in the cockpit slides the lock operator 114 along the way 56 to pull the bolt 100 back into the arm 40-against the force of spring 110. Thus, the movable cleat slides along the bracket into the slot-42. Once the movable cleat is in position, the lock operator is released and the'spring 110 pushes the bolt outward so that the movable cleat'is locked in position in the bow of the boat.

It may be noted that body 68 of the movable cleat is connected to the bow bracket through shackle 90. This allows the body to pivot and rotate freely at the bow of the boat as wind and waves act upon the boat.

In order to release the boat from the buoy, the operator need only retract the bolt 100 by pulling back on the lock operator 114. Then, haul in the painter line 120.

so that the shackle travels over the bolt. He, then, may release the lock operator. "By pulling in the painter line, he moves the boat relative to the buoy and the connector is moved along the traverse rod until he has the movable cleat adjacent to the cockpit. He, then, releases the anchor a line 24 from the cleat body by disengaging snap ring 26.

The movable cleat is secured by placing the movable cleat adjacent to the terminal bracket body 52 and forcing the resilient post into aperturef86. The painter line may then be wound onto the cleat. It may be seen that the movable cleat is stored neatly and securely on the boat ready for use. e

Although a specific embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described herein, it is readily apparent that the specific structure is shown and de scribed solely for purposes of illustration. It is evident. that the anchor line may be secured' to the movablecleat arm of the by Wrapping it on the cleat head as is conventional rather than using a snap ring. Other specific parts of the subject invention may be readily changed to accommodate varying conditions and boats of various sizes and types. It is understood that those skilled in the art may make various and sundry modifications and changes Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is to be expressly understood that the instant invention is limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An anchoring device for use on a Water craft comprising, in combination, an elongated support, a first end secured to one end portion of the elongated support and including means for securing the first end adjacent to the bow of the water craft, a second end secured to the other end portion of the elongated support and including means for securing said second end to the watercraft adjacent to the side thereof and spaced away from the first end, and a connector adapted for attachment to a fixed holding device and being movably mounted on said support and being movable between the first end and the second end.

2. An anchoring device as specified in claim 1 including means for moving the connector along said support between the first end and the second end.

3. An anchoring device as specified in claim 1 in which the connector includes a shackle movably mounted on the support, a cleat body pivotally connected to the shackle, and a cleat head movably connected to said cleat body.

4. An anchoring device as specified in claim 1 including a lock for releasably holding the connector adjacent to the first end of the support.

5. An anchoring device as specified in claim 4 in which the lock includes a bolt movably mounted in the first end of the support for releasable engagement With the connector, a lock operator is mounted in the second end secured to the support, and a cable connects the lock operator and the bolt.

6. An anchoring device as specified in claim 4 including means for moving the connector along said support between the first end and the second end.

7. An anchoring device as specified in claim 4 including a connector mount adapted for securing to the water craft said connector for releasably holding the connector adjacent to the second end of the support.

8. An anchoring device as specified in claim 7 including means for moving the connector along said support between the first end and the second end.

9. An anchoring device as specified in claim 1 including a connector mount adapted for securing to the water craft said connector for releasably holding the connector adjacent to the second end secured to the support.

10. An anchoring device as specified in claim 9 in which a resilient post is connected to the second end secured to the support, and the connector includes a cleat body having an aperture for receiving the resilient post to hold the connector adjacent to the other end portion of the support.

11. An anchoring device as specified in claim 10 including a lock bolt slideably mounted in the first end of the support, a lock operator mounted on the second end secured to the support, and a cable positioned in the support and connecting the lock operator with the lock bolt.

12. An anchoring device for use on a water craft comprising, in combination, a bow bracket adapted for mounting on the bow of the water craft, a hollow traverse rod having one end connected to the bow bracket, a terminal bracket connected to the other end of said traverse rod and being adapted for mounting on the Water craft, a shackle movably mounted on the traverse rod for movement between the bow bracket and the terminal bracket, a cleat body having one end pivotally connected to the shackle, a boss formed integral with the cleat body, a cleat head threadedly mounted on said boss for adjustably positioning the cleat head relative to the cleat body, means for holding the cleat head in engagement with the cleat body, a lock bolt movably mounted in said bow bracket and engageable with the shackle for locking the shackle relative to said how bracket, a cable attached to the bolt and movably mounted in said traverse rod for moving said bolt, a lock slide mounted on said terminal bracket and connected to said cable for operating said bolt, a resilient post mounted on said terminal bracket for engagement With the cleat body to hold releasably the cleat body adjacent to the terminal bracket, and a line secured to the cleat body to provide means for moving the shackle and the cleat body from the bow bracket to the terminal bracket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 90,952 6/1869 Murray 114218 X 1,328,985 1/1920 Cook et al. 114218 2,136,014 11/1938 McDonald 114218 2,912,954 11/1959 Jensen 114-230 3,062,168 11/1962 Backe 114206 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner. T. M. BLIX, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ANCHORING DEVICE FOR USE ON A WATER CRAFT COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, AN ELONGATED SUPPORT,A FIRST END SECURED TO ONE END PORTION OF THE ELONGATED SUPPORT AND INCLUDING MEANS FOR SECURING THE FIRST ADJACENT TO THE BOW OF THE WATER CRAFT, A SECOND END SECURED TO THE OTHER END PORTION OF THE ELONGATED SUPPORT AND INCLUDING MEANS FOR SECURING SAID SECOND END TO THE WATER CRAFT ADJACENT TO THE SIDE THEREOF AND SPACED AWAY FROM THE FIRST END, AND A CONNECTOR ADAPTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO A FIXED HOLDING DEVICE AND BEING MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT AND BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN THE FIRST END AND THE SECOND END. 